We've Got Places to Be (You & I)
by superimpossedmadness
Summary: Shoto really wasn't expecting much when his father dragged him to yet another party, so meeting a kindred spirit is kind of a surprise. He just hasn't decided if it's a pleasant one or not. Rated T for mild cursing.


**A/N: So I've had this idea for a while now but I've had such a hard time turning it into a proper story. This is probably as close as I can get, since I wrote this all in one go, for the most part. Rei and Shoto can swap stories about their terrible dads, ay! This is the first time I've written for BnHA, and more importantly Todoroki so I apologize if my voice for him is still kinda shaky. Rei's characterization is a mix of the anime and the manga.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own BnHA or Sailor Moon; they belong to Kohei Horikoshi and Naoko Takeuchi respectively. **

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If Shoto hears one more vapid comment about his bastard of a father, he's pretty sure he's more than likely to freeze the room just to put an end to this whole, miserable thing. He clenches his jaw, a minute movement that the prattling foreign diplomat before him probably doesn't pick up on because he still goes on waxing poetic about _Endeavor_, and _oh, you must be so proud of your father! Look at you, following in his footsteps. Good on you, young man! _

It takes Shoto a moment to register the words, but when he does, he's decided that he's had enough.

He's pretty sure the flat, vaguely pissed off look he levels at the man stops him at his heels because he's finally able to slip away from that, quite frankly, uncomfortable conversation about his father's _heroic_ exploits without so much as a goodbye on his part.

Shoto hears the man splutter after him for a moment before harrumphing in indignation, muttering about ill-mannered youth.

He makes a beeline for the doors the led to the terrace, ignoring the buzz of the party around him. He slips outside, firmly shutting the door behind him. He breathes a quiet sigh of relief when the idle chatter finally fades away into the background.

It's a clear night outside, and as far away from the city as this mansion is, it's relatively quiet save for the muted noise of crickets, and the soft gurgle of a fountain in the distance.

Finally, as the quiet simmer of agitation Shoto had been nursing the entire night reaches a tipping point, he lifts a hand to loosen his tie, tugging it quite aggressively from his collar and tossing it to the side with a careless flick of his wrist. He feels suffocated, trapped here as he is. He grips the marble balustrade with both hands, barely able to reign his quirk from lashing out in response to his chaotic emotions. He should be beyond this, he mentally chides himself, but even he has his limits.

So consumed in his thoughts as he is, Shoto doesn't even notice the other person across from him, who probably had the same thoughts of escape as he did.

"Well," a voice huffs, packing as much derision into that one word than should have been possible.

Hackles raised, Shoto turns to the source of the voice, posture defensive. A girl, half shrouded in shadows, eyes him with a bemused quirk of her brow.

She takes a step forward, and the light spilling from inside helps him ascertain that she couldn't have been much older than him, perhaps even a year or two younger. He's briefly reminded of Yaoyorozu when he looks at her — they share the same dark features and regal bearing, but whereas Yaoyorozu has an openness to her, this girl is brittle and standoffish, made even more apparent by the lofty look she's appraising him with.

"And here I thought I could get some peace and quiet," she says with a sigh.

Shoto scoffs at that, turning back to glare at the garden beyond the terrace. Distantly, he hears the muted clack of heels as the girl comes up to stand a few inches away from him by the balustrade. He watches her from the corner of his eye, not entirely comfortable with her presence. He had sought out a quiet place in hopes of some time to himself before his father hunted him down and paraded him around the party like some shiny prize to be ogled, so the last thing he wanted right now was to be roped into another empty conversation.

And, just as he feared, the girl turns to him and narrows her eyes thoughtfully, dark eyes flinty. "You're Shoto Todoroki, aren't you?"

Shoto's back stiffens, knuckles blanching from how hard he's gripping the balustrade, frost unfurling from beneath his right hand despite his best efforts. If the girl is bothered, she doesn't say anything.

He braces himself for the inevitable, "_You're Endeavor's son, right?_"

Instead, she says, "You're all my grandfather ever talks about these days."

That...that gives Shoto a pause. _What_?

After a beat of uncomfortable silence passes between them, the girl's words seem to sink in and she jolts, turning to him with a grimace on her face. "I hadn't meant it like that," she says with a wave of her hand, as if to banish the thought. "It's just... he really likes to watch the U.A. Sports Festival, and this year's final match for the first years got him in a tizzy. So I guess I have you to thank for that."

Oh. That was unexpected to be sure, because all things considered, the girl seemed to largely unimpressed, even a little flippant.

"I suppose it's only fair I introduce myself since I already know who you are. I'm Rei Hino," she says by way of introducing herself, voice measured and clipped.

The name gives Shoto a pause, and he struggles to keep his face neutral. He's pretty sure he's heard of that name before. It takes another moment before it hits him, he knows why it sounds familiar. _Takashi Hino, _a politician friend of his father's. In a strange reversal of roles, it's Shoto who ends up asking, "Are you Takashi Hino's daughter?"

The speed in which Rei's expression shutters and hardens would have been impressive if the familiarity of that expression didn't resonate in some deep part of Shoto. It's all the confirmation he needs.

He's worn that expression himself before, and despite himself, a little bit of his earlier resentment towards her, uncalled for though it may have been, lessens.

Still, that didn't explain why Shoto's never seen her, let alone heard of her, before. With the small circle of people his father tends to keep close to himself for the sake of convenience and clout, Shoto's grudgingly become quite familiar with their faces, even able to recognize them in passing. And he supposes he can vaguely see the similarities between Takashi and Rei if he looks hard enough, mostly in the proud tilt of their chins and the arch of their brows.

Of all the sycophants that crowd around his father in droves, it's Takashi Hino that stands out the most. A successful man in his own right, with a high position in the Democratic Liberal Party, it's little wonder why his father keeps that man close. The kind of relationship his father has with Takashi Hino is a mutually beneficial one - a pro-hero in the good books of a powerful politician, and vice versa? Even Shoto could see the merit of it, though he'd be hard-pressed to admit anything his father ever did had merit out loud.

"I've never seen you before," Shoto says, not exactly accusatory but apparently close enough if the affronted look on Rei's face says anything.

She reaches up to smooth a wayward strand of hair from her face, lips pursed in a cool scowl. "Well, he tends to forget he has a daughter until it becomes _convenient_ for him to play the doting father in front of the adoring masses."

Shoto levels her with a wry look of understanding at that admission. "And this was one of those times?"

Rei returns this with a brittle grin of her own. "It's approaching election season."

Shoto's lips twitch in a smirk. That, he can understand. His father is a mean son of a bitch but the image he feeds to the public is so carefully and meticulously cultivated that it's like there are two separate entities of him that exist — _Endeavor_ and _Enji_.

"Then what are you doing out here? Shouldn't you be in there, with your father?" He states it like a fact, though he can understand the hypocrisy, especially coming from him.

Rei's expression pinches, like she could think of a handful of things she'd rather being doing than what he had just asked.

"I've already done a circuit around the room, met all the people he wanted to introduce me to. I guess I've outgrown my usefulness for the night," Rei says, glaring darkly out into the night. She picks at the thin sheet of frost coating the balustrade from earlier with the pad of her finger. It could have been his imagination, but it seemed to be melting much faster than it should be. "He probably wants me to sing him praises to anyone who would listen but I'd rather not lie."

Shoto lets out an involuntary snort at that, and Rei whips her head to stare at him incredulously.

Eventually, her expression evens out, and she cocks her head to the side. "What about you? Shouldn't you be in there, with your father?" She throws right back at him.

"I'd rather not be his show pony, thanks," he says with enough bite that Rei narrows her eyes at him, probably picking up on his jab despite its bland delivery. She pushes away from the balustrade to stand at her full height, which was still heads shorter than him, despite her heeled shoes.

"Excuse _you_—" she starts, only to be unceremoniously cut off by the door leading to the terrace all but slamming open. Rei and Shoto both turn to the door, their petty squabble temporarily forgotten.

"Shoto, there you are!" A loud voice cries, drawing a few curious glances from the people inside the ballroom

There, standing by the doorway, is Endeavor in all his hulking glory. His massive frame all but fills the space of the doorway, and he certainly cuts an intimidating figure with his fierce glower and towering height. He stops when he takes in the scene before him, his expression softening imperceptibly when he notices that his son is not alone.

Shoto scowls reflexively, his hands clenching. His father takes this in stride, instead choosing to focus on the thin wisp of a girl standing beside him.

"Hino-san," Endeavor says by way of greeting, his tone mild.

Whatever face Rei makes at that is carefully hidden as she bows, masked by a curtain of dark hair. "Endeavor-san," she returns when she's standing upright once more. The fire in her eyes from a few minutes ago is extinguished, a cool and stoic mask in its place.

"You'll have to excuse us, I'm afraid I have need of my son," Endeavor says with a gesture towards Shoto, beckoning him forward to stand by his side. Shoto stays rooted in his spot out of pure defiance. Endeavor's face twitches, his brows furrowing minutely, and Shoto viciously counts that as a win.

"Shoto, _now_," Endeavor says in a clipped voice, apparently have no patience for his son's behaviour.

Rei gives Shoto a look from the corner of her eye, equal parts sardonic and commiserating. Shoto's lips thin, a part of him bristling at that. He doesn't need pity, though he belatedly realises that Rei might be all too familiar with this scenario, and it's not pity in her eyes. Not really.

Shoto deflates, suddenly exhausted from all the grandstanding and ego-stroking that had made up the entirety of the party that evening. He just wants to go home and he figures that the fastest way to do that is to get this whole thing over with, so he takes in a fortifying breath and finally making his way over to his father. As he passes by Rei, he barely makes out the whispered, "Guess I'm not the only show pony tonight."

Shoto throws her a glance over his shoulder, brow arching. He had to appreciate her gall, even if a little begrudgingly, and despite his better judgement, he smiles — a small, fleeting thing, yes, but a smile nonetheless.

Rei looks bewildered by his reaction at first, and even Shoto himself is taken aback, but she musters up a smile in return, clearly not to be outdone.

Shoto nearly startles when Endeavor clasps a firm hand on his shoulder, but he's able to school expression before giving himself away — he won't give the old man the satisfaction. He shrugs it off, stepping into the ballroom and giving his father a wide berth.

He casts one last look at Rei's shadowed silhouette just before his father closes the door behind them.

"I take it you had a pleasant conversation then?"

Shoto's expression sours and he scowls, looking off to the side. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Endeavor simply hums, an uncharacteristically mild reaction for someone like him. He stares at the profile of his son's face, carefully blank, before turning to glance at Takashi's daughter through the glass door, her back turned to them once more.

_Interesting_.


End file.
